High school football: Anticipated Chardon-Kenston rematch will be Friday at Mentor

The Chardon football team had just put the finishing touches on a 29-28 win over Kenston when Hilltoppers coach Mitch Hewitt met the Bombers' staff at midfield, shook their hands and forecasted the two teams might see each other again.

Hewitt then turned to his assistants.

"I told my assistants, 'I hope we don't see them again.' You could tell they would be more dangerous as the season progressed," Hewitt said.

Lo and behold, Hewitt's prediction back on Aug. 31 came to fruition.

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With Kenston and Chardon winning their first-round games in the Division II, Region 5 playoffs, the Bombers (7-4) and Hilltoppers (9-2) are set for a rematch. This one will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium in Mentor.

Kenston coach Jeff Grubich laughed when asked if the Bombers have an advantage because of his past. Prior to taking his first head-coaching job at Kenston, Grubich coached at Mentor as an assistant for a decade.

"It'll be like a home game for me," he said.

Like Hewitt, Grubich thought there was a chance his team might get another shot at the Hilltoppers in the postseason.

The winner of the Chardon-Kenston game advances to a regional final on Nov. 16 against the winner of Kent Roosevelt (10-1) and Aurora (10-1).

"In the back of our mind, we thought there was a possibility of this," Grubich said.

The first meeting went down to the wire. Chardon scored a touchdown with about 5 minutes left in the game. But instead of kicking the conversion, the Hilltoppers went for two -- and got it -- which ended up being the game-deciding play.

"Obviously, it was more than one two-point play, but that's the one that determined the outcome," Grubich said. "We had plenty of time to move the ball and score, but went three-and-out."

Both Hewitt and Grubich are expecting a spirited battle in the rematch, with a near-capacity crowd.

"It's going to be a great game for the fans," Hewitt said.

In other playoff location announcements made on Sunday afternoon by the OHSAA:

-- Mentor (10-1) will play St. Edward (11-0) at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Byers Field in Parma in a Division I, Region 1 semifinal.

The winner will face the winner of 10-1 North Royalton vs. 10-1 St. Ignatius in a regional final on Nov. 17.

"Obviously, they're number one in the state (in the AP poll)," Mentor QB Mitch Trubisky said after his team's win over Warren Harding on Saturday. "We've got to do a lot of film study and get ready to prepare like any other week. We're going to come out fired up.

-- Chagrin Falls (10-1) will play Ravenna (7-4) at 7 p.m. on Friday at Solon in a Division III, Region 9 semifinal. The winner will face the winner of 8-3 Hubbard vs. 9-2 St. Vincent-St. Mary in a regional final on Nov. 17.